WASHINGTON — Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg seized on a nationwide Federal Aviation Administration ground stop to demand that Congress boost funding for the nation's aging air traffic control infrastructure, warning that without it, such disruptions will recur.
The outage this morning halted over 10,000 flights and stranded hundreds of thousands of passengers. The FAA lifted the ground stop after several hours, but significant delays rippled through major hubs including Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson and Dallas/Fort Worth International. The disruption stemmed from a critical failure in the Notice to Air Missions system, which relays safety information to pilots.
Buttigieg has long pressed Congress to expand the FAA's budget, specifically for modernizing its decaying technology and hiring additional air traffic controllers. The agency's current appropriations have failed to keep pace with rising air traffic volume and technological demands.
The incident hands fodder to lawmakers demanding federal investment in aviation infrastructure. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chair Sam Graves, a Missouri Republican, and other leaders now face intense pressure to prioritize safety funding in upcoming budget talks. The dynamic pits advocates for robust federal spending—backed by the airline industry and labor unions—against fiscal conservatives seeking to restrain expenditures in an election year. Whoever secures funding claims a political win; those perceived as neglecting critical infrastructure pay a cost.
The FAA's fiscal year 2025 budget request includes upgrades to the NOTAM system and expanded funding for controller training. The House Appropriations Committee is expected to begin marking up the transportation spending bill in the coming weeks, where these requests will face scrutiny. A final vote on the spending package is anticipated before the fiscal year ends.
